I'm just so damn picky!

When it comes to movies, if I follow anything, I follow characters.

That means that I don't follow actors.

If, for example, I say that I'm a Bogart fan, what I mean is that I like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. I'll watch them whenever they're on. I've got the latter two on DVD, and I'll still watch them whenever they're on. As for Caine Mutiny and Treasure of the Sierra Madre, I've seen them, they're good movies, but--for me--not re-watchers. (And I never did care much for African Queen.) See, I like Bogart, but I like a particular Bogart. In the three movies I mention first, he plays pretty much the same character (or close enough to it).

Now, I love old movies, and a lot of the time in old movies, liking the actor is pretty much the same thing as liking the character, because actors tended to be cast in similar roles over and over. It must have often sucked for the actors, but it certainly makes it easy for me as a viewer to see James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson in a movie's credits and be pretty sure I'm in for a good time.

So, how that relates to comics.

Well, when it comes to comics, I also follow characters.

This means that I buy books, mainly, because of who's in them. This also means that, often, I'm not going to automatically like a replacement character (Captain America notwithstanding). I might. I'll give it a try most of the time. But there are no guarantees.

And it means that, as a reader, I like to know that if I see Hawkeye or She-Hulk on a book's cover, I can be pretty sure that I'm in for a good time. A lot of the time, I am.

You know when I'm not?

When the character isn't the same character anymore.

It happens.

And when it happens, well, I save some money. :)